RIYADH -- With hymns and official platitudes but scarce public grief, Saudi Arabia buried the monarch who ruled over this oil-rich desert kingdom for most of the past quarter-century as the West looked for signs about how the House of Saud will function after the other octogenarians at its head pass on.

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Saud, a man who spent his life shuttling among a string of ornate palaces throughout the Middle East and Europe, was laid to rest yesterday in an unmarked grave amidst hundreds of other anonymous dead in a sprawling al-Oud cemetery in central Riyadh. Though one of the richest men on the planet -- as a young man he frequently gambled away millions of dollars in a single night -- King Fahd's body was wrapped in a simple brown robe and transported to the cemetery in an ambulance.

The simple rites were in line with traditions of the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the kingdom's official religion, which emphasizes the equality of all Muslims in death.

"His grave will be like the grave of all Muslims," said Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, the country's grand mufti. "There is no difference between him and other Muslims."

Leaders from across the Islamic world took part in the ceremony, but there was none of the desolate wailing or chaotic crowd scenes that marked the funerals of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Jordan's King Hussein, two of King Fahd's more charismatic contemporaries in the Arab world who also died after prolonged illnesses.

Observers said the lack of overt emotion was due in part to the absolute faith Wahhabis place in the will of God, but suggested that it also hinted at a potentially dangerous distance between the House of Saud and the people it rules ahead of an investiture ceremony today that will see tribal elders and clerics swear loyalty to King Fahd's half brother and successor, King Abdullah.

That rift between the palace and the people dates back Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait 15 years ago today, to which King Fahd responded by asking the United States to defend Saudi Arabia, fearing his kingdom might be the Iraqi dictator's next target. It was a decision that embittered many purists, who were offended by the presence of the U.S. Army so close to Islam's holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina.

"You're seeing sadness and a lot of respect today, but not grief," Rime Allaf, a Middle East analyst at the Chatham House, a London-based think tank, said before the funeral. "He [King Fahd] created a lot of resentment when he courted American forces and others into Saudi Arabia."

The austere funeral was carried out amidst fears that the ceremony could be targeted by the Islamic militants who have waged war against the monarchy since that time. Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, and his al-Qaeda network has deep roots in the country and has carried out several large-scale attacks in recent years.

There was heightened security in the capital throughout the day with snipers watching over the mourners, who included most of the thousands-strong royal family, as well as the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Syria and the Palestinian Authority.

Non-Muslims were not allowed to take part, but a line of Western dignitaries is expected to arrive in the country today to pay their respects and to congratulate King Abdullah, who will become the country's sixth ruler since it was founded by his father, Abdul Aziz ibn al-Saud, in 1932. Among those expected are French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney and Britain's Prince Charles. Canada will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Western officials have taken King Abdullah's ascension in stride, comfortable in the knowledge that he has been the country's de facto ruler since 1995, when King Fahd suffered a crippling stroke, and has maintained the course of providing the West with as much oil as it needs in exchange for political support from Washington. However, they are watching anxiously to see what signal the new king gives when he eventually moves to name a second deputy prime minister.

Following King Fahd's death on Monday at the age of 82, King Abdullah named the country's long-serving Defence Minister, Prince Sultan, as Crown Prince -- marking him as the likely successor to the throne. He did not name a second deputy prime minister, however, generating furious speculation about who will follow the 81-year-old King Abdullah and the 77-year-old Prince Sultan.

"Anyone who tells you what's going to happen after Sultan is making it up," one Western diplomat based in Riyadh said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Even a lot of significant people in the House of Saud would not be able to tell you how this plays out."

The leading candidates are believed to be the powerful Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, and Prince Salman, the governor of Riyadh. The appointment of either man would mean leaving power in the hands of the older generation -- Prince Nayef is 71, Prince Salman 69 -- and a setback for younger, more reform-minded princes.

Some analysts compare the situation the House of Saud is now facing to that of the Soviet Union following the 1982 death of Leonid Brezhnev after some 20 years in office. Then, the politburo twice put forward leaders from the same generation as Brezhnev -- Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko -- only to see both die within less than three years and Mikhail Gorbachev, a young reformer, rise to take their place.